Amazon, eBay and Alibaba slammed again for fake listings

A consumer advocacy group has fired a broadside at leading online retailers and social media sites, accusing them of making it easy for counterfeiters to target unsuspecting consumers.

Los Angeles-based group The Counterfeit Report said it sent notifications to Amazon, eBay and Alibaba subsidiary AliExpress last month, asking the e-tailers to remove listings for 3.8m items on their websites that it suspected of being counterfeit.

The websites removed the listings, says TCR, but site data suggest that at least 10,640 eBay customers and 2,804 AliExpress users had already purchased the items.

"Inexplicably, the e-commerce giants don't notify consumers they received a counterfeit or fake item and are entitled to a refund, even when they know the items are fake - items that don't exist in the manufacturer's product line but bear its registered trademark," claims TCR.

The consumer group has also accused eBay of blocking its test purchasing accounts after it had already bought some 2,000 unauthentic items, including fake auto suspension parts, cosmetic products, microSD cards and vehicle diagnostic equipment, amongst other goods. It also takes issue with eBay policy of requiring the buyer to return the counterfeit item to the seller, where it could be easily recycled and resold, in order to start a refund claim.

"Social media sites Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have also become popular counterfeit outlets," says TCR, which goes on to claim that "even Walmart has opened its website to third-party vendors and was caught selling counterfeits."